Wheat-Free

Saturday - 01/16/2021 — Exactly two months ago, I began to eat wheat-free meals. Why?

I’m glad you asked.

My dear friend Marcia Dunscomb had mentioned several times over the past couple of years that she was wheat-free, but I hadn’t really followed up on finding out more about it. Until I looked at the fifteen COVID-19 pounds I’d gained. Why had I gained that weight? Well, without anywhere to go (except the library, the grocery store, and Wild Birds Unlimited) I found myself migrating more and more often to the kitchen.

It felt like I was hungry all the time. I’d felt that way for years, but could usually avoid the kitchen except for mealtimes and a few snacks here and there. All right, I admit it, a LOT of snacks.

Until the day Marcia mentioned in a casual conversation that she was seldom hungry between meals. “How do you do it?” I asked. And she told me about the book Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis.

Library, here I come. I read the book and that evening I threw out every open wheat-containing product in my kitchen. Crackers, cereals, couscous, and (GASP!!) even that final half-box of Cheez-Its. Anything that was still sealed I put in a box to take to the local food pantry.

The next morning, I looked around and found nothing to eat. I wasn’t about to sneak something from that tempting near-by food pantry box, but I found half a cup of dried oats (all that was left in my glass canister). Cooked it up and ate it along with a few slices of cheese.

And guess what? I didn’t get hungry until around noon time. I’d made an emergency run to Sprouts, the organic grocery store, right after breakfast so my noon meal was half a can of tuna mixed with mayonnaise and sliced green onions, along with a tomato sprinkled with parsley and fresh-ground pepper.

Day #2’s breakfast looked like something the cat threw up—you win a few, you lose a few. I won’t try that again. But breakfast on day #3 was a two-egg omelet filled with chunks of yellow pepper, Brie, and Gorgonzola and garnished with green onion and a yellow-pepper slice.

After two months, I’ve gotten quite good at this.